Nadal has many more years at the top, says coach Moya

Reuters Staff

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Coach and former player Carlos Moya (R) talks to Spain's Rafael Nadal during a training session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, January 15, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

(Reuters) - Rafa Nadal can compete at the top level for years to come if he managed to stay healthy, his coach Carlos Moya has said after the Spaniard won two grand slams titles this year.

Former world number one Moya joined Nadal’s coaching team to work alongside his uncle Toni Nadal in December last year and has helped revitalise the 31-year-old Spaniard’s career.

Plagued by injuries and a loss of form in the past two years, Nadal has risen to number one in the rankings and won his 10th French Open title and third U.S. Open this year. He lost to his great rival Roger Federer in the Australian Open final.

“If he can stay as healthy as he is now, without injury, motivated, looking after himself the way he is, we will be talking about Rafa for years to come,” Moya told the ATP Tour website (www.atpworldtour.com).

”He is a player who broke records as a teenager and who is now breaking them as a veteran as well. This is something we haven’t see much in the history of tennis.

“When I joined the team I knew that there was much more to come for Rafa, that if he stayed injury free and continued training with the same motivation, desire and confidence, that the tennis would come.”

Moya, who shares a close friendship with Nadal, said nothing about his compatriot would surprise him anymore.

“...He always gives the best of himself. We are talking about one of the greatest players in history and, as such, my faith in him is rock solid.”

Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly